Online gold shopping is most popular in Chennai

Chennai buys most gold

According to a survey by US-based ecommerce giant eBay, people in Chennai buy and sell the most gold online. This is a trend that Amazon’s recently launched jewellery marketplace can work to its advantage. Though eBay has refused to reveal any specific numbers, an industry insider has something indicative to contribute.

“There are close to 4,000 such dealers in the city. In online portals, gold coins are normally offered at a discounted rate as there is no physical distribution or retail costs associated. So many dealers buy it in large numbers,” said the head of an online jewellery site.

According to eBay India Census 2014, the top five ecommerce hubs in Tamil Nadu are Chennai, Srivilliputhur, Palayamkottai, Coimbatore and Madurai.

ZaAmor co-founder V Thiyagarajan who is into online diamond and gold jewellery retail, shares his USP. “Our prices on items such as gold coins are always 10% to 12% lower than those prevailing in jewellery stores at any given point of time. Also, most gold coins are standardised offerings and unlike heavy jewellery where people like to visit the store to buy the same,” said. He added that gold coins weighing 2gm and 4gm were the most favoured for online purchase. Gold coins account for nearly 80% of sales in Chennai of ZaAmor. Also, nearly 40% of the country’s gold jewellery sales came from South India.

What sells most?

Sellers who wish to trade in precious jewellery can take a cue from these statistics. If Chennai is the topmost city that purchases gold online, it is important to design jewellery pieces can cater to the tastes and interests of these customers. The important question to ask here is, is there a cultural influence behind this purchase trend? In the sense, is the gold purchased part of marriage rituals, festivals or simply for financial investments? As can be seen from the numbers, it seems like gold coins are the most popular choice. Sellers should make a note of this important customer choice before launching into online retail of precious jewellery.

For those dealers in precious jewellery who wish to go online, there are several online marketplaces that deal exclusively in precious metals and jewels. In fact, Amazon has just launched an exclusive online space for sale of precious jewellery. Since this sector has a lot of financial investment involved, sellers should carefully gauge the market before venturing online.